Natural Order of Things
by Random Guise
Summary: Galen Bradwarden and Valerian rode off on horseback at the end of the 1981 movie "Dragonslayer"; this scene picks up several hours later. I don't own these characters, and no additional princess's get munched on by a dragon in this one-shot.


**A/N: A short addition to the ending of the 1981 movie "Dragonslayer".**

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Natural Order of Things

"It sure is a lot easier travelling on horseback" Valerian said to her companion as he set about arranging the wood for the fire. "A lot faster, too."

Galen Bradwarden rubbed his forehead where it was still red and swollen. "A little too fast sometimes; that branch caught me just right. A little lower and you would be in love with a blind magician."

"But a magician never the less. I take it that's why we're going back to Cragganmore" she concluded.

"At least to start. When my master Ulrich died, I became the inheritor of the castle and all that it contains. Not just the grounds and the furniture, but all the reagents and written knowledge that is stored there is mine now."

"You realize that you are the last magician, don't you?"

Galen got goosebumps suddenly at the title magician. "I hadn't thought about that. I'm still trying to get over Ulrich's death." Galen had been an apprentice magician to the master Ulrich. When Valerian had brought a group from the land of Urland asking for his help in killing the dragon Vermithrax Pejorative, Ulrich had agreed to lend his skills after he learned that the few other magicians he recommended were now dead. Tyrian, King Casiodorus' Captain of the Royal Guard who had followed the group, came upon them and challenged the magician to a test of fitness that ultimately killed the master. Empathetic to the plea, Galen had taken his place in the quest and found out on the way to Urland that Valerian was in fact a young woman disguised as a young man. "So if the Merydid sisters and Rimbog are gone, and I already know that Bellasarius - the master that taught Urland - is dead then I guess that does make me the last one. Or at least the last one that's known. There may be some that practice in private, mixing their sulfur and belladonna and val..." he said before interrupting himself with laughter.

"What's so funny?"

"Sometimes I'm terribly slow; I'm sorry. I just remembered something my master said. He said that I would fall in love with an herb one day. I thought he was crazy, and I assured him that I would not become addicted to any potions that I would possibly make up in the future."

"So?"

"Maybe it doesn't grow where you live or it goes by a different name, but one of the herbs he uses as a reagent is called 'Valarian'."

Her puzzled look gave way to a great smile. "I'm sure that was a relief; otherwise you might be looking for a girl named 'Arrowroot'."

"What's wrong with the name Arrowroot, as long as she's cute?" he teased, then ducked his head to one side just in time to dodge the stick she half-threw at him. He caught it with a magical gesture and levitated it to the top of the pile. "And now the finishing touch..." he added as he uttered a phrase in Latin. With a few colored sparks the campfire burst to life, immediately making the darkening surroundings more comfortable, both physically and emotionally, with heat and light.

"Will you stay in Cragganmore?" Valerian asked.

"You mean will _we_ stay in Cragganmore? I don't know. The dragon is dead, Ulrich is dead, Hodge isn't even here to help me anymore, and I've never been on my own before. Magister said that I would get stronger in my magic, but what of it? I don't know if there's a place for a magician in this world now; it might not miss the profession at all." Galen sighed. "It seems a shame to throw it all away like some trousers that have been mended too many times."

"Then keep your studies up" she encouraged him. "Maybe I can help to write it all down, help you where I can - you might even consider getting an apprentice of your own one day. Maybe pass your knowledge on to a son or something..."

"I suppose I could find...wait, a son? Me?" Galen had been given up at an early age and knew no parents; the idea of being one himself hadn't really occurred to him.

"Sure. I may be...eligible...for my village's virgin sacrifice right now, but it doesn't have to stay that way" she blushed, but still maintaining eye contact with just a slight twitch of an impish grin.

Now it was Galen's turn to change color. "I...ah...suppose for the second thing to happen, logically the first thing would have to h-h-happen" he stammered. He did love Valerian, but he hadn't really considered the consequences. "I mean, with no dragon you're safe from the lottery so you don't have to, ah, lose your eligibility."

"Don't you want me?"

"Yes!" he said emphatically "of course; I chose you over the Princess Elspeth, didn't I?"

"Since she was eaten by baby dragons, I think that rather worked out for you."

"And you" he pointed out. "Or at least I hope so. There's a lot I don't know." He threw up his hands in a sign of futility.

"When you put on Ulrich's hat, remember that the snake faces forward" Valerian teased.

"I know that, I mean about...other things. Ulrich taught me a lot about magic, but he kind of skipped a few other topics."

"You seemed to know how to kiss me."

"A good apprentice watches and learns - I saw some people do it in the village."

"Well," she said as she fingered the cross her father had given her "we're taught that male and female become one; like mates with like. So when two..."

"Yes, I know _what_ happens, just not the exact details. Two horses will produce a foal, two rabbits will produce a kit..."

"A LOT, sometimes" Valerian interjected.

"...or _kits_," Galen corrected himself "and chickens produce chicks. That is the natural order of things. Dogs have pups, deer have fawn, and dragons have whelps like those three I killed. So I suppose you and I..." he trailed off, with a shocked look on his face.

"Oh, come on Galen; it won't be that bad! My father told me a few things and we'll figure the rest out" she tried to assure him.

"That's not it" the magician said, trembling slightly. "I've just had the most dreadful thought."

"What?" she asked, sobering somewhat.

"Those dragon whelps I killed - when I smashed the crystal it killed the mother with Ulrich in her talons." He didn't say anything more and just stared at Valerian.

"It was okay, Ulrich had already foreseen his death, Galen. When it blew her...up..." she trailed off to as a morbid look came over her face and she grasped his hands for confirmation.

"What about the father?" they both whispered at the same time.

The End

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**A/N: A little food for thought for the young magician and his companion that maybe, just maybe, the job isn't completely done yet. Something of a retelling of "St. George and the Dragon"; the effects were pretty good for the time, the bad guys were bad, the good guys were good and except for a princess being chewed on the film wasn't too gory.**


End file.
